Tag: working artist

I sit up in bed and stare at my Mermaids, which have come to rest in this new place for a while. Along with my guitar. Do I play? Not really. But shouldn’t every artist travel with a guitar? I think so. This is the first morning since I got here that I am not dashing out the door to drive thirty miles to pack my things, to drive them back here, once and maybe twice, to begin this new chapter I have chosen.

Where do I begin? Oh yeah, I said that yesterday.

My mental to-do list swims in my head. I need to fill out some kind of bio or other and upload it with a headshot for my Agent. Yes, I now have an agent for print and commercials. This is Los Angeles after all.

I need to add my name to the speaker list for the Gem Club circuit. I’m a gemologist now, and I’ve traveled a bit, to boot. I’ve got some good stories.

I’m a vendor in West Covina this weekend for three long days selling my art with the So Cal Etsy Guild. Need to prepare some new jewelry and prints to sell. What do they like to buy there again? Must check my notes.

Need to do a resume to look for yet another part time something or other to supplement my income. The last resume I did was in 1984. Yep. Nineteen eighty four. Must use my son’s as a model for how to do this.

Need to finish unpacking.

And then there’s those feelings of mine that I must wrestle with. Guilt and fear and hope and excitement and disappointment and happiness and sadness all wrapped up in this big, brave move I’ve made towards getting back on my feet. Towards saving myself. Must listen to Oprah and Deepak.

I’m a painter, a photographer, a jewelry designer, a gemologist, a traveler, a story teller, and a dreamer. Art is my heart and my soul.

In this past week I hit my personal bottom. That point where you stare at the ceiling in the middle of the night and wonder if you’re meant to leave this dimension and head for another one. Not good. This was my signal to wait no longer and do the hardest thing. Make a change.

And so I did. I reached out. I was willing to listen with an open heart to those who care about me. I did the hard thing.

Just as the sun set before me in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca just a few weeks back, so sets the sun on that chapter in my life. Today I begin a new chapter in my journey as both an artist, and as a soul learning the lessons of love. Let the story begin.